But it was no use.

Shen Yi’s heart ached seeing how red Qin Jiao’s wrist had become. "Why don’t we leave it for now?" he said, distressed. "We can figure something out later. Just wear it for now."

Qin Jiao felt utterly frustrated. ’This bracelet is very valuable. Twenty years from now, it could probably be sold as an antique.’

She had no choice but to wear it for the time being.

But she made it clear, "When I figure out a way to get this bracelet off in one piece, I’ll return it to you immediately."

Shen Yi gave a noncommittal response. ’My grandmother helped pick you as my wife,’ he thought. ’You’ll never get that off... not unless it’s the day you agree to marry me.’

After much persuading, she finally got Shen Yi to leave. Qin Jiao felt like a thief. If her parents had seen Shen Yi in her room so early in the morning, no amount of explaining would have cleared things up.

Meanwhile, when Shen Yi returned to his own house next door, he was met with his mother’s knowing smile. Then, his mom, Du Liya, slowly gave him a thumbs-up.

"That’s my boy!"

’Your son is anything but,’ Shen Yi thought. ’I was trapped all night.’ But he couldn’t tell anyone that. Even setting aside the secret of the space, his pride was on the line.

He cut straight to the chase. "Mom, you’re okay with me pursuing Jiao Jiao, right?"

"Of course I am! But wait... you haven’t won her over yet?"

"I just need to try harder. That’s the only way to prove my sincerity to her."

Du Liya was silent for a few seconds before sighing softly. "Ah, my son really is a good one. You know, if I had been a little more clear-headed and reserved back in the day, I would have realized Shen Zhengfeng wasn’t just playing hard to get. He was clearly just using a fool like me to advance his own career."

Shen Yi knew his mom was a hopeless romantic, so he didn’t get into it with her about Shen Zhengfeng. He clattered down the stairs and saw his grandfather on the veranda, teasing a budgerigar.

The budgie couldn’t talk, but it was incredibly lively, chirping away first thing in the morning. Mr. Du had originally wanted to buy a mynah bird to teach it his hometown dialect, but unfortunately, there were none for sale in Ping’an Town.

When Shen Yi told his grandfather about the bracelet not coming off, Mr. Du smiled warmly. "This means your grandmother approves of young Xiao Jiao, too."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. But she was really angry last night."

Mr. Du looked at his grandson’s composed expression and said earnestly, "Xiao Yi, even your grandmother is helping you now. If you still can’t win your girl over after all this, it’ll be a complete embarrassment."

Shen Yi felt a little frustrated. He had a feeling that if it weren’t for everything that happened in their past life, Jiao Jiao would have already said yes.

But the reality was, Jiao Jiao also remembered their past life. So, what he had to do now was correct the mistakes he’d made back then, one by one.

Qin Jiao was, in fact, very unhappy. Before, when Shen Yi didn’t know she remembered their past, she could play dumb. But not anymore.

Her last memory of them together was of going to get a divorce. Even though a year had passed since the car crash, she still wanted to divorce Shen Yi.

’When you can’t live together anymore, you have to get a divorce. I can’t force myself to stay in an unhappy situation for any reason. It would only end up hurting us both.’

Since it was summer vacation, Qin Jiao’s family ate breakfast late. They were getting ready to move, so they had already sold their breakfast cart. This meant that for the time being, Qin Zhonghui and his wife were no longer running their stall selling buns and other things.

Just then, Qin Bogang walked in, pushing a bicycle. His gaze passed over Su Yun and Qin Jiao before he lowered his voice and said to Qin Zhonghui, "Second Brother, come outside for a minute. I need to talk to you."